Rustday, Newt 7, 244 Day 13 of the Containment Experiment Played poker with Dr. Fidge and the others. Vermin was obviously cheating but Walls kept jumping to his defense. I don't know what she sees in a sleazy creep like him but I suppose it's none of my business.
Dr. Fidge said that the experiment is going well and the Field is holding. He tried to explain it to me again, but it went in one ear and out the other. All I got is that the experiment is now part of the prestigious Tiny Teams conference and that's apparently a really good thing? Woohoo, I guess... Note: apparently the powers that be are using an older Field interaction video by some streaming celebrity to promote the event. Weird! Fleaday, Newt 8, 244 Day 14 Stuck on guard duty with Stutter again. There's not much to talk about. Vermin and Walls finally finished synthesizing and animating all the required "graveyard sprites": visual attachment points to draw the ectoplasm entities into the Containment Field. "The sprites make the Field come to life and feel like a real ectoplasm habitat", as Walls put it.
I have a terrible headache and can't sleep. Wonder how Mom's doing... Smogday, Newt 9, 244 Day 15 Dr. Fidge asked me to gear up and enter the Field. Not the best way to start the day, but it's not like I have a choice. Today they were demoing the experiment to a group of military commanders. How many times do we have to update the experiment's parameters for these demonstrations?
We did manage to correct a long-standing fault in the Field's boundaries that occasionally prevented it from responding to the controller's input, so it's not all bad. Gruelday, Newt 10, 244 Day 16 I had a medical checkup with Dr. Henrietta today. She said there's nothing wrong with me physically, but gave me some sleeping pills.
Something's definitely wrong with Dr. Fidge. Stutter asked him about the experiment's end date and Fidge got visibly upset. "We're all doing our best here! I'll have a date for you soon enough". I wonder what's eating him? Mossday, Newt 11, 244 Day 17 Apparently they extracted part of the ectoplasm and packaged it into a miniature field with its own dedicated page on the Steam academic publishing platform. The marketing folks even recorded a new "trailer" for it, like it's the latest summer blockbuster. [previewyoutube=gdDDrIGVbBo;full][/previewyoutube] Walls and Dr. Fidge keep arguing. She thinks the ectoplasm extraction will weaken the Field's structural integrity. Dr. Fidge said he's under a lot of pressure and had to give the Ghost in a Bottle shareholders something to market. Oh, and the pills worked. I slept like a slime baby, although I still feel terrible. Rustday, Newt 17, 244 Day 23 No time to update this diary. Really sick and also dealing with the Containment breach. We laid Vermin and Walls to rest today. This isn't what I signed up for... Smogday, Newt 19, 244 Day 25 I woke up feeling funny. Another tooth fell off. Stutter, Dr. Fidge, and I are quarantined. Dr. Henrietta says it will be alright, but I don't trust her.
Gruelday, Undead 5, 244 Day ?? They're all dead. Dr. Fidge was the last one. I'm sorry. Too hungry. The Field is unstable. Rips in the universe... I'm coming home, Mom...

[ 2024-08-09 21:14:11 CET ] [ Original post ]

TLDR: Unfortunately we had to push back our planned release date again. We don't have a new date yet, but we're trying our best to bring you Octopus City Blues as soon as humanly possible. We're very sorry about that. The rest of the update will go over some of the things we've been working on and provide additional context for the delay.

Progress

Starting in April, Marina (benevolent tentacle artist) and I (Firas, malevolent snail) significantly changed the way we work. Previously, art and development were mostly done independently and we communicated on a weekly or biweekly basis. We switched to a virtual office kind of setup where we dedicate fixed hours to working together every day. It's been going great so far and we feel much more motivated and productive. Our current target is the Robot Graveyard, the lawless wasteland at the base of Gold Tower. We're mainly working on the remaining interior locations such as the Conman's shop or the cyborg club.

By the way, we recently released yet another demo update, based on all the quality-of-life and interaction improvements made since the previous one. These include:

Kaf the Hedgehog is now 33% faster and has 100% more walking frames!
Intuitive top-of-the-line settings menu to crank up your sim's colors to 11.
New text background colors to make your eyes bleed. From the grimy "Jungle" to the ominous "Caput Mortuum".
Switch between the gossip and item menu modes like a pro using Q/E keys or the gamepad's shoulder buttons.
Say goodbye to gamepad confusion! The simulation will reliably remember the most recently used controller.
Beetles crave mushrooms. Drop the right item in the plaza and watch the little critters go!
You no longer have to "touch" dirty objects or people to interact with them. Standing close by is sufficient.
Sacrificing Mom to science will pay off sooner.
And numerous other fixes, copy editing changes, and a host of new potential bugs for you to discover!

I'm also happy to present one of several music tracks that the newest addition to our team, Shannon (omnibenevolent troubadour), has been working on: [previewyoutube=AHZas7Ctf4M;full][/previewyoutube] There's a lot more happening behind the scenes. For example, Julia (unambivalent wordsmith) went over and helped improve large portions of the script, while Karl (ambivalent doodler) is practicing card tricks.

The Delay

Octopus City Blues has had a long and rocky journey over the years, so I apologize if the following is too long and boring. Nevertheless, you all deserve an honest explanation for the delays. Back in late 2021 when I was pitching the project to the Midgame Fund, the plan looked something like this:

Early 2022: Demo play testing
Late 2022: Release of Act 1 in Early Access.
Mid 2023: Steam Next Fest demo
Late 2023 / Early 2024: Release of Act 2
Later in 2024: KS reward fulfillment, possible localization and console ports

After getting funded, the helpful investors at Midgame Fund advised against Early Access and recommended releasing both acts together. Much of 2022 was spent on discussions, planning, and extensive play testing that took place in two main rounds. The testing feedback showed us that we still had much to do, particularly when it came to guiding the players. By early 2023 we were struggling to follow the original plan as we addressed all the testing feedback. That's why I decided to cut a lot of planned content and rewrite the story so that it no longer had two acts. The original acts were separated by a 10-year gap, which would've required a lot of art editing and writing completely new responses for every character.

The next play testing round coincided with the Indigo event. Even after all the changes made, some players were still struggling with certain parts or running into bugs. That's why we decided to participate in the October Steam Next Fest edition instead of the June one. The release date was pushed back to Q1 2024. The Next Fest event itself was a great success. After years of neglecting marketing, we used 2023 to promote the project and make it more viable financially. On the other hand, the event left us with even more feedback, some of which we were still addressing in January (2024). The release date was pushed back to Q2 In early 2024 the Q2 release plan was still feasible. However, things temporarily took a turn for the worse after our last update. The first roadblock was due to real life developments and personal circumstances that impacted the availability of key team members. Thankfully, everything is back to normal now. A more general problem is that the more we get done, the more work we end up creating for ourselves. The complex branching quest design means that the amount of testing needed can grow exponentially. Automated testing and play testing rounds can only take us so far.

The next obstacle had to do with the 2023 rewrite. Taking a story with many characters and intertwined elements and completely rewriting major parts of it turned out to be much trickier than expected. Some major plot elements simply didn't work in the new framework, and I had to make additional changes to improve the story's overall pacing and consistency. At first I thought we could still release the main parts, and then slowly restore some content after release. That would've meant early adopters and our biggest supporters wouldn't get the complete intended experience. There are also many more things we'd like to tackle after release (Kickstarter rewards, localization, porting) instead of adding more content. To be clear, there are some things that we still plan to add after release (as free DLC). In particular, there are the arcade games and the quests related to them. While not part of the main story, they were in our original pitch (and much of the art is already done).

All of this brings us to our current plan. The story is still in one act, but some previously cut areas and quests will be restored. As mentioned in the previous section, we've adopted a new way of working since April and have been slowly adding the remaining areas and characters to the simulation. While things look promising, it's hard to tell what will happen tomorrow or if additional play testing will require even more changes. OCB is something that particularly benefits from these play testing rounds, because the more we can anticipate the player's actions (e.g. trying to combine the knife and baby items), the more fun and immersive the experience feels. Obviously, we can never get rid of every bug or address all feedback before release. That's why we'll just have to find the right balance. We still have to finish the following parts: Graveyard (in-progress), Big Beef, Turkeys, and the ending. Of those, Big Beef is the most involved one. I changed the planned release date on Steam to simply 2024 because that's our goal, but please keep in mind that it's not a release date either. We'll only announce a concrete release date once all of these areas are done and work primarily shifts to testing and polishing. If you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read all of that! We remain as committed to this project as we were on day one, and we're genuinely trying our best as flawed and naively optimistic humanoids. We owe it all to your continued support and understanding.

[ 2024-06-01 04:49:46 CET ] [ Original post ]

February 2024 Update

Hello everyone. This is your host Kaftan von Kaffeeklatsch and you're listening to the Cosmic Millipede Podcast, the show about rocket ships, red quasars, and the search for extraterrestrial life. Before getting to today's interview, I'd like to apologize for the delay since our last episode. We've been quite busy preparing content for the new year, so it took more time than expected. Today's sponsor is the Ghost in a Bottle Consortium. Do check out their upcoming Octopus City Simulation that's coming soon. You can already download a lengthy demo on Steam. Oh, and if you're reading the transcript after the episode, we took the liberty of adding the latest Octopus City Blues screenshots for you to admire.
Our guest today needs no introduction. I'm talking about the infamous business tycoon, the world's wealthiest person, and the founder of Kosmomash Rockets, Constantin Mandibule. Unless you've been living under a rock for the last ten years, I'm sure you're familiar with Kosmomash's long-awaited projects: the first privately-developed rocket to carry tourists to the moon, and the ambitious luxury resort they're building over there. Monsieur Constantin Mandibule, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to have this chat. It's my pleasure, Kaftan. And please, there's no need for formalities. Just call me ConManall my friends do.
Uh all right, Monsieur Conman. Last year was a very important one for Kosmomash, wasn't it? Absolutement! It was also differentmuch more business-focused than previous years. Between showcasing our rocket prototypes publicly and at industry events, talking to potential partners, and onboarding new talent, comparatively less time was spent on developing rocket components. These activities were all essential for establishing a strong promotional foundation for this year's big launch. With that out of the way, we are currently back to focusing on construction.
How exciting! The prototype you unveiled during the Next Fest Aerospace Convention caused quite a stir among the attendees. Could you tell us more about it? What I can tell you, Kaftan, is that it took a lot of hard work to finally get the prototype out the door. It was useful preparation for our final launch, too. For example, working with STEAM's [Editor's Note: Space Tourism Enforcement And Monitoring agency] launch regulations and cloud computing infrastructure forced us to optimize our release processes.
The feedback we received from the attendees was extremely valuable as well; while some of the casualties were avoidable, we continue to learn from every tragedy. Au fait, we just published a new version of our prototype specs a couple of weeks ago, fixing many issues encountered by real users in the wild. The accidents were regrettable, but the altar of technology demands its sacrifices. What are some of the lessons learned from the launch of the prototype? Euh... much of it has to do with improving the user experience. For example, our DAISY module is programmed to react to the needs of space tourists. However, as post-war treaties ban the use of AI, we have to manually write responses to every potential user query. Watching so many lab raerr, people, try the demo helped us identify hundreds of new DAISY responses. Another finding from the handful of unfortunate incidents was that the control systems were not very intuitive to first-time users. As the average space tourist isn't a trained pilot, we had to place large signs all over the space modulereally obvious warnings such as "Keep the windows closed after launch", "Repeatedly press the red button to breathe", or "Carefully arrange the fusion matrix stack if the gradient is inverted". There were, en outre, numerous fixes and rocket engine performance improvements. We also introduced two new cockpit views to track the current flight status: the Facts And Figures screen displays various metrics during and at the end of the trip, while the Calendar App keeps track of all the space debris collected along the flight path.

That's very interesting. The prototype must be much safer now, especially compared to the versions you tested at the INDIGO SKIES and SpaceAdventureX events last year. Tout fait! And let's not forget the Independent Rocketry Showcase, the Test & Fly event, and the numerous people who tried our prototype rocket kit at home and streamed it online. We're really thankful to everyone who got injured to get us closer towards uncovering the dark mysteries of the great beyond. And closer to lining your pockets, no doubt. Moving on, you mentioned hiring new colleagues. Oui, c'est juste. People are surprised when I say this, Kaftan, but I've been writing all of the company's press releases from the very beginning. I simply enjoy doing it! *laughs*. English is obviously not my mother tongue, and so a lot of mistakes were made. Thankfully, we now have a professional editor, Julia Seeholzer, to help us sort out all the there's, theirs, and they'res!
More recently, Shannon Mason, the celebrated composer also known as Pongball, has joined the team, and is already working on some exciting tunes. Some of these will be played during the long elevator rides to the underground mines beneath the lunar resort. Manual space labor doesn't have to be boring, after all! Are we still talking about space tourists? Anyway, with all the feedback, exposure, and new colleagues, it sounds like you're on target for this year's big launch. What are you working on these days? Like I said, the focus is finally back to developing new things. Last year we worked on a western themed area in the planned resort. We're wrapping that up while also constructing a magnificent coliseum and an underwater village. There's a lot going on behind the scenes that we can't talk about yet. We want it to be une grande surprise for our precious guests. As for the planned launch, it's still going according to plan, and we're doing our best to meet our summer targets. With that said, the prototype showed us that no matter how much testing we do, actual users will keep uncovering all the bugs I mean, easter eggs, we intentionally add. Quality Assurance remains the biggest unknown at the moment.
On the other hand, we've invested in a very solid foundation over the years, and everyone's doing their best to finally give humanity the salvation it so desperately needs. One way or another, I'm confident that this year is the year of Kosmomash. After all, we only need to ensure that half the tourists actually make it to the moon. How hard can it be? Who knows? It's not like we're talking about rocket science or anything. In any case, thank you, Monsieur Conman, for your valuable time, and good luck with your ambitious plans for this year. I hope we get to talk again after the first batch of tourists make it to the moon. Moi aussi! Thank you for having me, Herr Kaftan.

[ 2024-02-06 23:58:18 CET ] [ Original post ]

AdventureX Live-Stream

Watch riggy2k3 take a stab at the Octopus City Blues demo during the AdventureX conference Steam event. Check the event for discounts and the chance to try a handful of awesome games. Octopus City Blues is a surreal simulation of life on a giant octopus. Assume the rule of an eccentric tentacle trimmer applying for a seedy corporation. Acquire illicit substances, uncover dark secrets, and teach slimy children in an adventure about everything and nothing. Try our lengthy demo and explore the various branching paths and optional quests. If you like what you see, please support us by following the project on Steam and adding it to your wishlist. Thanks to riggy2k3 for kindly allowing us to use the footage: https://www.twitch.tv/riggy2k3

[ 2023-11-05 13:47:09 CET ] [ Original post ]

Demo Playthrough

Watch some gameplay footage from the Octopus City Blues demo. Octopus City Blues is a surreal simulation of life on a giant octopus. Assume the rule of an eccentric tentacle trimmer applying for a seedy corporation. Acquire illicit substances, uncover dark secrets, and teach slimy children in an adventure about everything and nothing. Check out our lengthy demo, with branching paths and many optional quests to experience. If you like what you see, please support us by following the project on Steam and adding it to your wishlist. Thanks to riggy2k3 for kindly allowing us to use the footage. This is an edited version of the original video, which can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duqlmIal9ro Sorry about all the livestream event posts. Steam requires special events for different kinds of livestreams and we also ran into some technical issues. Hopefully this one will be the last one for Steam Next Fest.

[ 2023-10-15 17:54:59 CET ] [ Original post ]

Octopus City Blues - Next Fest Livestream 2

Watch riggy2k3 take a stab at the Octopus City Blues demo during this featured Steam Next Fest Livestream. Octopus City Blues is a surreal simulation of life on a giant octopus. Assume the rule of an eccentric tentacle trimmer applying for a seedy corporation. Acquire illicit substances, uncover dark secrets, and teach slimy children in an adventure about everything and nothing. Check out our lengthy demo, with branching paths and many optional quests to experience. If you like what you see, please support us by following the project on Steam and adding it to your wishlist. Thanks to riggy2k3 for kindly allowing us to use the footage: https://www.twitch.tv/riggy2k3

[ 2023-10-15 03:39:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Octopus City Blues - Next Fest Livestream 1

Check out some gameplay footage from Octopus City Blues during this featured Steam Next Fest Livestream

[ 2023-10-11 04:44:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

Octopus City Blues Demo Playthrough

Check out some gameplay from the Octopus City Blues demo!

[ 2023-10-11 04:12:48 CET ] [ Original post ]

Steam Next Fest Demo

We're happy to announce the availability of the cross-platform Octopus City Blues demo! Check it out on our Steam page and spread the word! [previewyoutube=S0qtMezQt08;full][/previewyoutube] Note that the demo will remain available (everywhere) after the event. If you run into any issues or have some feedback, let us know on Discord or the Steam community hub. The demo is lengthy and can take 2-3 hours to complete. It represents almost one third of the full content. We're currently setting up the livestream for the event. Expect another announcement soon with the exact date and info.
You might've noticed that the release date has been pushed back to the second quarter of next year. We're sorry about that, but preparing this demo took more time than expected. It did involve a lot of necessary work for the full version as well. This included extensive testing, integrating with Steam, automating our build process, supporting cross-platform cloud saves, making many play testing improvements, and editing over thirty thousand words of dialogue (and that's just half of the demo's script). It's always been challenging to demo Octopus City Blues. Quests are designed with a lot of cross-references and freedom in how you tackle them. There are numerous systems to teach the player, and many characters to interact with. You might find exploring the city overwhelming or convoluted at times (we're still working on it!), but it's also the kind of experience that rewards exploration and multiple playthroughs. We hope that you'll enjoy it as much as we have putting it all together.
We're going to work on promoting and improving the demo for the rest of October. Afterwards, we'll finally be able to focus solely on finishing up the remaining content for the full version. Releasing this demo was important to us, as we really need some additional visibility before release. That's why we'd appreciate it if you tell other people about it. I'd like to thank all the Ghost in a Bottle team members and collaborators for passionately bringing this monstrosity to life. This especially goes to Marina and Julia for all the work they've put into improving the demo's graphics and dialogue over the past couple of months. Also thanks to Flix Braconnier, Joo Anto, Renan Carvalho, Elena Zaffaroni and Christian Hoffmann for helping translate the Steam page into various languages. Of course, we have to thank you and all our fans and testers throughout the years for your tremendous patience and support. We'll do our best to get you hooked up with the full dosage of profane octopus city rituals as soon as possible!

[ 2023-10-09 19:29:49 CET ] [ Original post ]

August 2023 Update

Attention: Supreme Space Fleet Commander Qor-Oh VI Regarding aberrant radio signal 6EQUJ5 originating from the AL3002 system, Galaxy Sector D2. Decryption by GRUE bio-compute matrix successful. Identified primitive species of meat-based organisms with self-designation: HUMAN.
Most of the inhabitants of the third planet, AL3002-C work for a large commercial entity known as Ghost in a Bottle. Contrary to initial fleet assessment, radio signal picked by deep space probes in D2 was not intentional. It only contains updates sent from one Ghost in a Bottle office to another concerning the status of "Octopus City Blues", a primitive cybernetic simulation.
Photo by Max Mijs Brouwer Signal is composed of four messages. Summary of first message, titled JUNE:

Company experimented on a large number of meat-based organisms by releasing some kind of pathogen code-named DEMO.
Release took place in a DISCORD.
Also tested in several gatherings of meat-based organisms.
Members of HUMAN species do not possess telepathic abilities, as scientists could not fully anticipate the behaviors of test subjects.
Scientists continuously add new interactions to improve the payload.

Summary of second message, titled JULY:

New content and scenes added to the project.
References to TRAIN: terrestrial vehicle powered by dihydrogen monoxide in the gaseous phase.
Reference to discarding and upgrading a biological parent.
The DEMO pathogen is successfully injected into (dihydrogen monoxide in the gaseous phase) hardware: STEAM DECK.
Special BUTTONS and other improvements made for STEAM DECK.

Summary of third message, titled AUGUST:

Discusses making changes to textual elements.
Members of HUMAN species unable to generate faultless prose on demand.
Large quantities of faulty textual output require constant corrections and modifications.
Skillful individuals with command of imprecise meat-based language employed to guide this painful process.
In particular, editor Julia Seeholzer joins Ghost in a Bottle to fight the increasing number of runaway COMMAS and SEMICOLONS.
Numerous changes were already made to improve the flow and consistency of DEMO pathogen.

Summary of fourth message, titled FUTURE WORK:

Part of the pathogen is scheduled for public release during the "October Steam Next Fest" gathering.
Preparations underway. In particular, tighter integration with dihydrogen monoxide in the gaseous phase is planned.
Other upcoming gatherings are also planned.
DEMO work is taking more time than anticipated, but is vital for increasing the efficacy and virulence of the final product.
Further updates to follow in the coming orbital periods of the planet's sole natural satellite.

The malevolent corporation has formulated a plan in three steps:

First, ensnare as many unsuspecting test subjects as possible during the next gathering.
Second, there is a random chance that some deranged subjects would add the simulation to their list of future products they wish for.
Third, once the simulation is perfected and ready for widespread release, previously exposed individuals will be notified, acting as transmission vectors for further dissemination.

Supreme Commander, the situation on AL3002-C is concerning. The nature of the computer simulation and the threat posed to life in D2 are unclear. GRUE matrix has reticulated the following suggestions:

Continue to monitor AL3002-C for signals.
Avoid direct confrontation with Ghost in a Bottle.
Quarantine the third planet.
Carefully observe the effects of releasing the simulation on native population.
Once simulation technology is understood, adapt it for use in the war against the Qzor-Zoh Hierarchy.

End of Threat Assessment D2-105714-6EQUJ5.

[ 2023-08-30 21:05:16 CET ] [ Original post ]

June 2023 Update - New Release Window

Greetings octo-pundits, Octopus City Blues is now scheduled for an early 2024 release. We tried our best to meet the 2023 deadline we'd originally set for ourselves, but things got in the way (shocking!). The extra time will help us further polish the simulation, while also giving us the space to promote the project ahead of the release. [previewyoutube=S0qtMezQt08;full][/previewyoutube] We also decided to participate in the October edition of the Steam Next Fest event instead of this month's. With that said, we're currently inviting people to test a new build that will serve as the basis for the eventual public demo. If you want to give it a spin and help us test it, join us on Discord. Much was done in the last five months: wrapping up quests, working on the cowboy dreams, fixing numerous bugs, bundling the simulation's data in one big archive, introducing in-game awards, and acting on December's play testing feedback. We also paid more attention to marketing, producing a new teaser trailer, and posting more often on social media (including a post on reddit).
As for the delay, the personal circumstances of more than one team member have changed considerably in the last few months. You can imagine how big the impact of temporarily losing one member of a tiny team would be, and the well-being of the team is more important than any deadline. Thankfully, everyone is starting to get back to their usual pace. In January our plan allowed for a release in October or November. As the delays accumulated we tried simplifying future work and cutting content, but you can only do that to a certain point. One option under consideration is to get outside help for the final push, but these discussions take time as well.
I mentioned marketing, something we've neglected over the years. While getting Octopus City Blues done is still our priority, we want people to find out about it as well. That involves talks with several potential partners, engaging with social media, and participating in events. Questions such as the possibility and timing of console releases, achievements, and integration with storefronts are also being discussed. All that to say that the closer we get to release, the more there is to do, including marketing, QA, events, localization, and of course actually finishing up the thing! Testing is particularly tricky when dealing with a branching narrative experience like Octopus City Blues. That's why we'd really appreciate it if you can join us on Discord and test our new build. [previewyoutube=JWOmlCf4cXo;full][/previewyoutube] I'm still very happy with the work we're doing so far. Playing the latest build, the world feels rich and fully realized; there's so much to explore and do in the city, to the point that it still surprises me whenever I completely forget that you also have the option of doing X instead of Y or Z. I hope you and all the players will appreciate all the love that's been poured into our little monstrosity over the years. To conclude, we're aiming for early 2024 at the moment. If all goes according to plan, there will be a new release date trailer in time for the October Steam Next Fest. Stay tuned, and thanks for your understanding and support!

[ 2023-06-14 23:02:43 CET ] [ Original post ]

Dec 2022 / Jan 2023 Update

To those who dream of octo hellscapes,
Last year was a special year for Octopus City Blues. The funding and advice provided by Midgame Fund allowed us to fully concentrate on development, and we got a lot done. The focus was on wrapping up 8 story quests, implementing the remaining mechanics (tentacle watering, day progression, saving/loading data), and making it easier to test/debug our work. What's left is finishing and testing 6 quests + the ending. We also released a couple of builds for play testers in 2022. In addition to fixing many bugs and making things more intuitive, the feedback resulted in new features such as highlighting nearby exits, or allowing Kaf to take a nap.
Throughout last year, we closely followed a road map with the goal of releasing the simulation in Q4 2023. That's still our goal, but only if we can release something that's not buggy or incomplete. As always, we'll keep you updated in the coming months, and will announce a more concrete release date once we're closer to the finish line. If everything goes according to plan, we'd like to release a demo for the summer edition of Steam Next Fest. Additionally, one more play testing session is planned closer to the final release. Thanks for your patience and support. We're almost there!

[ 2023-02-02 16:38:00 CET ] [ Original post ]

What's Octopus City Blues?

Where are we? Who am I?

Picture a giant octopus-like creature resting on top of a mountain. Instead of frolicking beneath the waves, our ginormous octopus resides in an inhospitable snowy world. The dregs of humanity have learned to coexist with their colossal protector, fortifying it with various structures and machines. In particular, large towers were built around each of the creature's 8 arms.

Our story takes place in the districts of the densely populated Gold Tower. Here, we meet a small and repulsive humanoid who goes by the name Kaf Kafkaryan. Kaf occasionally works as a tentacle trimmer, someone hired to cut the excess tendrils that grow all over the city. Our unlikely hero starts out applying for a job at the Curtain Crust corporation, and has to endure their lengthy recruitment process. Around the same time, Kaf begins to experience a series of bizarre dreams, playing the role of a soldier in a beetle army, a horse in a lawless frontier town, or a stranger in love with a turkey. What does any of it mean?

In some of these dreams, Kaf is asked to investigate matters in the real world. In doing so, a terrible truth slowly comes to light, one that has to do with Octopus City's sordid history and its ominous future. Among many other things, Kaf will have to raise a child, fight with insults, spread false rumors, work with shady factions, cure baldness, ride a centipede train, and climb a tentacle in order to decide the city's fate.

Why am I shaking?

It's important to note that Kaf isn't a hero. Our pathetic little friend is a walking bundle of nerves. Faced with several nerve-racking encounters, you'll have to navigate complex forking paths while carefully keeping an eye on Kaf's stress. You need to keep a level head in order to come up with rational solutions. On the other hand, Kaf's creativity and boldness under pressure might surprise you. It's up to you to decide the right approach for each encounter.

Stress is indicated by shaking text. The more shaky an option is, the more stressful Kaf will be. The shaking text is optional and can be replaced with textual or iconic indicators. While managing short-term stress, you need to keep Kaf's overall health in mind as well. Eating junk food and making hard choices isn't the best lifestyle for our lovable old geezer. Not every choice you make is stressful, but many of them are significant. There's always more than one way to deal with any situation. If a door stands in your way, you can try to talk your way in, pretend to be someone else, climb through the window, hire a professional to open it, or build your own lockpick out of crushed beetle remains. Each of these choices may result in different outcomes, and will impact your relationship with other characters.

There's no penalty for making a "wrong choice", and no game-over screens. Even failure will sometimes reward you with unique content down the line. We hope that players will ultimately feel inspired to experience the simulation multiple times to see everything it has to offer.

Who are all these people?

While story and choices are important, remember that we're talking about an Octopus City Simulation. We're building an educational experience to teach you about life in the historical city. That's why we paid a lot of attention to simulating the lives of the many denizens who had inhabited that cursed place.

The simulation starts on an early Mossday morning. The date is Cod Moon 6, 130 (FC calendar) to be exact. From that moment, the simulation plays out in real time, albeit at an accelerated rate of 1 simulated minute for every real second. Time passes as you explore the town, but it's also possible to skip ahead by reading comic books. The day is divided into 3 distinct phases: morning, evening, and night. Usually, Kaf will fall asleep when it gets late, but you can drink coffee to stay up at night. The inhabitants of the city have their own daily schedules. A person might be found at work in the morning, in a restaurant in the evening, and might not appear at all on weekends. Certain events also take place on special days throughout the year, such as a weekly street market. Each character has their own sets of interests, confidants, and dispositions towards Kaf. They might also be part of larger factions or groups, and angering one faction member will have an effect on the other members.

The world of Octopus City is relatively small. Armed with new gossip and items, you'll find yourself repeatedly interacting with the same characters. That's why we put a lot of effort into writing many unique responses for them. Each character has their own life and history, and you'll slowly get to know them and understand their connections to each other and the main plot.

How do you talk to someone?

To help you interact with the city and its citizens, you are equipped by a state-of-the-art BUNKER 2X Personal Assistant. The device offers two modes: Field and Bunker. Field mode is used for sharing items and gossip with other characters, and it's also where you'll get occasional notifications about the items you pick up and the gossip you learn.

The Bunker mode on the other hand is the domain of Old Man Bunk, your very own virtual grouch. Bunk will give you hints whenever you get stuck, and you can explore his room to access a variety of applications. For example, use the item bag to combine or drop items, the calendar to keep track of upcoming events, and the journal to view all the gossip you've learned.

Think of gossip as special items that you earn by talking to people or witnessing events. New gossip can override or combine with what you already know, allowing you to deduce connections and uncover new truths. The main use of gossip is to ask characters about various topics. You should be careful about what gossip you share with others, however. Depending on the character and how viral a factoid is, gossip can spread to other characters over time.

But what's Octopus City Blues?

Octopus City Blues is a graphical terminal where you guide a hideous avatar through several real and imaginary worlds. You control the avatar directly using the keyboard or a controller. You examine the environment, talk to characters, and learn gossip or receive items to use on other characters. Sometimes you find yourself in stressful encounters where you have to make choices based on your mental state and the gossip you learned earlier. There is no way to experience everything Octopus City has to offer in one session, as many of your choices lead to mutually exclusive outcomes. Along the way, you will also engage in little minigames. You might play baseball with a scary insect queen, attempt the perfect business handshake, or learn to dance. There's also a dedicated button for spinning like a hedgehog, but that's mostly useless.

Octopus City is a comedy and a tragedy. Octopus City is love and hate. Octopus City is you and me. Octopus City is everything and nothing.

I need this in my life!

We've been working on this project for years, and we're getting closer to the finish line with every passing day. In the next update, we'll go over everything we did this year, in addition to our plans for the upcoming one. Stay tuned!

By the way, we're currently preparing for another round of play testing. It'll probably take place some time in the next few weeks. If you're interested, feel free to hop on our Discord server and wait for the announcement. We'll also provide more details via some of our social media accounts. For completeness sake, here is a list of places where you can find us:

[ 2022-12-09 23:43:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

Progress Update December 2021

Greetings from your Ghost in a Bottle corporate overlords, We're happy to announce that Octopus City Blues was selected to receive funding and support from the Midgame Fund, a group of Dutch developers who invest in locally developed games (and octopus city simulations that are totally not games, obviously). This isn't a publishing deal, and the developer-friendly terms of the Midgame Fund guarantee that we still have full control over the amount of obscene tentacle puns we can fit into the simulation, so please put down those torches and pitchforks. So what does it mean for you? Mostly a much higher possibility to receive the full version sooner than you would've without this funding. The money will allow our main developer to work full time on finishing the simulation, while getting valuable advice from a group of accomplished game developers. The lack of dedication and time has always been the limiting factor in development, so with this we'll literally have no more excuses!
Kaf's room over the years The majority of this month and some of the next month will be spent talking to people in the Midgame Fund and drafting a more detailed and realistic plan for the next year. One of the things that might change is whether we still need to split the project into two parts, or if it can be released as one simulation. There are several considerations to each option and it has an effect on whether you'll get to play (a public version) next year or in 2023. Expect to hear much more on that in January's update. That's all for now. Let us know what you think or if you have any questions. We'll leave you with a hastily put together trailer we did for PitchYaGame. Nothing you haven't seen before, but it's been a while since the last one. Check out our new landing page too! [previewyoutube=StQBI-tITPo;full][/previewyoutube] Credit goes to Finbeard for the awesome concept art of Kaf that appears in this update's cover image.

[ 2021-12-04 12:51:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

Octopus City Blues
Ghost in a Bottle

Developer

Ghost in a Bottle

Publisher

TBA

Release

Indie Singleplayer